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04/04/2013 03:00 PM

Got Range Anxiety? Maybe A Free Car Will Help

SustainableBusiness.com News

Along with the price tag, the biggest barrier to electric car purchases continues to be range anxiety - the fear of running out of juice while you're driving.

Therefore, some car-makers are trying to spur sales of their electric cars by easing that anxiety. How? By giving them free access to conventional gas-powered cars when they need them for long trips.

Automakers have been offering a variety of incentives to help people get over the hump and go electric, such as free auto insurance, cheap leases and your basic price cuts and rebates. In addition to a $7,500 federal tax credit and state incentives up to $2,500, the price is pretty attractive, especially since people save about 40% of fuel costs when they drive an EV.

But that doesn't eliminate range anxiety.

Even though driving range is rarely a practical problem because on average people drive just 13 miles a day, it does get in the way for those few long trips, about 10% of all travel.

BMW, whose i3 electric car enters the US market this year, will come with a free loaner conventional car for trips that exceed its 80-100 mile range.

"We created a program to offer a loaner car alternative to eliminate that concern as a barrier. This way someone could feel comfortable about buying or leasing an i3 without feeling the need to own a second car," Dave Buchko of BMW told Edmunds.com.

Customers will also have the option of adding a gasoline generator to the i3 for about $4,000, which would double its range. The retail price for the i3 is estimated at $42,000-$48,000.

And Fiat is offering a free rental car (through Enterprise) for 12 days a year with the purchase of its 500e electric car.